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OverviewThe <meta> tag is a powerful tool for generating effects and passing data along to search engines. The <meta> tag is coded in a page's <head> and is not seen by the viewer in their browser. The <meta> tag will always have two main attributes depending on its function. The first will be either HTTP-EQUIV or NAME. The second will be CONTENT. The HTTP-EQUIV attribute is used to pass specific instructions to the browser to take some action. The NAME attribute is used to pass data along to another server like a search engine. In this lesson, we'll be using the NAME and CONTENT attributes to give search engines a description of our site and a list of keywords. This is done using two different <meta> tags. There is no closing meta tag. All of the content needed is coded right in the opening tag. Description TagBelow is a basic tag providing a site description for search engines. It is coded in the <head> of your pages.
<meta name="description" Note that you must use the specific NAME "description" for a search engine to understand what the CONTENT is supposed to represent. The description in CONTENT can be anything you think appropriate, but a couple of things should be considered. The site description should be brief. Under 256 characters (including spaces) is a good rule. Some search engines view long descriptions and keyword lists as "spam" or a deception and will rank your site poorly. Don't use any punctuation or special characters or the search engine might not read past them or understand them. Your description should accurately describe your site. You might be able to fool search engines, but you can't fool viewers. If you mislead people to your site, they'll just leave. You won't be "trapping" anyone. Plus, they'll remember your site unfavorably. Is that really the kind of viewer you want to attract? Finally, a description should contain as many "keywords" as possible. We'll be discussing keywords next. Keywords TagThe <meta> tag can be used to pass on a list of "keywords" to a search engine. The search engine will use this list when determining what searches should include your page. Below is an example:
<meta name="keywords" The above would be a nice, short keyword list for my site. Mine's a little longer. You can use words or short phrases separated by commas in the CONTENT attribute. Try to think of what a viewer would type into a search engine when looking for a site like yours. Again, brevity and accuracy are the rules for coding your keyword list. Don't let this get too out of hand. Most search engines will read up to 256 characters. A longer keyword list might have negative results. It used to be beneficial to repeat certain core keywords, but today most search engines view repetition in the keyword list to be either spam or deception. This will lower your page's ranking. Most search engines today will read your keyword list and compare it to some of the page's content. The better the list and content samples match up, the higher your ranking will be. Thinking up a few good keywords can be quite a chore. It's best to think of words and terms that someone would type in to find a site like yours. It might also help to go to sites similar to yours and check out their keyword list. Don't copy a keyword list verbatim. It's illegal in most instances to use someone else's exact keyword list. Summary & Exercises
Look at the source code of some of your favorite sites and view their <meta> tags. Hint: use your source viewer's "search" function for "<meta" to easily find the tags in the source code. Check out their site descriptions and keywords. Code the above <meta> tags on your pages and see if your search engine ranking goes up. It generally will if you haven't used <meta> tags before. It can take several weeks for a search engine to spider you, so be really patient. |
The <meta> tag can generate effects and pass data from your page to a search engine. There is no closing meta tag.
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